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TobiasT

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2019
74
71
One friend is going to buy a Mac Pro 6.1 (second-hand). He is going to mainly use it for software development, and a few times for Final Cut.

He is looking for advise about the GPU. Geekbenchwise both D300 and D500 get almost the same scores (70k vs 71K), and D700 gets 90K.

My advise is to forget scores, he is not going to notice a significant different, but to look for a 2016-now model because of the graphics problems of 2013-2015 models.

Do you have other advise?
 

bsbeamer

macrumors 601
Sep 19, 2012
4,313
2,713
There is no 2016 Mac Pro. The 2013 MP6,1 is the same "trashcan" MP sold in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019..

Take caution unless you can get a fantastic price on a MP6,1 with D700. Even those do have GPU issues. At retail prices, money would likely be better spent on a mini or iMac.
 

TobiasT

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2019
74
71
There is no 2016 Mac Pro. The 2013 MP6,1 is the same "trashcan" MP sold in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019..

Take caution unless you can get a fantastic price on a MP6,1 with D700. Even those do have GPU issues. At retail prices, money would likely be better spent on a mini or iMac.

Mac Pro 6.1 was sold from 2013 to nowadays. It is obvious that is the same model (6.1, Late 2013). However, Apple installed a slightly faster SSD in 2016 models and the GPUs were fixed.
 
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pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
2,230
2,645
There is no 2016 Mac Pro. The 2013 MP6,1 is the same "trashcan" MP sold in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019..

Take caution unless you can get a fantastic price on a MP6,1 with D700. Even those do have GPU issues. At retail prices, money would likely be better spent on a mini or iMac.
It sounds as if he's recommending a 6,1 with a manufacture date of 2016 or later.
 

XNorth

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2018
300
464
United States
The GPU in the 2013 Mac Pro Trashintosh can't be replaced with more modern GPUs, only with another stock GPU - the D300, D500, or D700. You could attach an eGPU to it, but I wouldn't, since TB 2 doesn't support eGPUs, there is really not much gain.

I wouldn't buy the 2013 Mac Pro Trashcan at this point, even used.

If you need a Mac now for video, a used 27" iMac i7 Radeon Pro 580 is a good alternative. It's a better all around FCPX 4K video editor than the Trashcan. Go for an iMac Pro if you need more for pro codecs or intensive stuff like 3D/VR.
 

Flint Ironstag

macrumors 65816
Dec 1, 2013
1,334
744
Houston, TX USA
You could attach an eGPU to it, but I wouldn't, since TB 2 doesn't support eGPUs, there is really not much gain.
Complete and utter rubbish. Unsupported is not the same as useless. If you're GPU bound, eGPU is probably going to help. How much depends on your applications. Is it worth it? Another question altogether.

How would you rate the performance of your own eGPU rig?
 

XNorth

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2018
300
464
United States
How much depends on your applications. Is it worth it? Another question altogether.

How would you rate the performance of your own eGPU rig?

Exactly! It's all subjective. My subjective opinion is that the Trashintosh is not worth BUYING now just to attach it to an eGPU. Any of the newer Macs would be a much better buy for that purpose.
 

th0masp

macrumors 6502a
Mar 16, 2015
851
517
Question is what is the motivation to go with the Mac Pro over other models specifically? If it's to be able to upgrade RAM and drives yourself and use your own screen setup on a Mac and not be stuck with e.g. a glossy monitor of a particular format like the iMac then that might be good reasons.
Going for a newer revision sounds like the best idea, question is how honest will the sellers be about it?

I have one btw and am happy with it. My advice would be to upgrade the internal drive to an NVMe of the preferred size and not to sweat the GPU choice too much. A 'few times' of using Final Cut does not sound like it warrants too much attention for a software developer.
 
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